An apparatus and method is disclosed that allows a participant in a conference
call to receive conference call roster information at a telephone display unit,
at a computer display or at both types of display. The conference call information
is updated during the call and includes identification of the speaker during a
conference call. The conference callers are connected together and identified either
by standard caller identification or by other identification provided by the operator.
The conference callers' identifications are then transmitted in two ways. First,
a coded signal is sent over the telephone connection to a telephone display unit.
Second, an information packet is transmitted over the Internet to a conference
call participant's computer. A server computer monitors the conference call and
the identification of parties involved is updated and parties are added or disconnected.
The speaking party is identified in one of two ways. First, during the call, the
speaker's telephone line will have a higher transmission amplitude than the other
telephone lines and the line with the highest transmission amplitude will be identified
by the server computer. Second, voice identification data is gathered before the
conference call and stored in the server computer for use in identifying the speaker.